K’naan is wavin’ his flag over the 2010 World Cup

Somali-Canadian star K’naan tells Arwa Haider about making a World Cup anthem – even though neither of his native nations qualified.

K’naan has hit number one in 14 different countries with Wavin’ Flag

‘I saw the first World Cup football game in history to take place in Africa, between South Africa and Mexico, and I had seat 1A. That’s right, tell your friends!’ This impressive boast is delivered with softly spoken charm by Somali-Canadian rapper/singer K’naan (aka Keinan Abdi Warsame), an artist whose hip hop swagger is distinctly different. For a moment, his lean frame is proudly puffed out and I notice the blingy black-and-silver flag pendant hung around his neck; it’s not any recognisable national colours but a bespoke Wavin’ Flag by Toronto jeweller Mark Lash, named after K’naan’s current hit single, the 2010 Fifa World Cup anthem.

Wavin’ Flag certainly isn’t a conventional football song, despite its corporate backing by Coca-Cola; its politically conscious lyrics make it the antidote to beery chants like Vindaloo and it was previously released in Canada as a fund-raising record for victims of the Haiti earthquake.‘I was asked to deliver a football anthem that was different from anything I’d done,’ explains K’naan. ‘I didn’t want to go into the studio thinking I’d deliver to order, even though this is the biggest opportunity I’ve ever had.

But I knew I could make Wavin’ Flag more upbeat; the only condition was that it retained the line “when I get older, I will be stronger”. I wanted people to feel empowered and celebratory – and now the single is No. 1 in 14 countries.’

The original version of Wavin’ Flag features on K’naan’s latest album, Troubadour, which gets a much-anticipated British release next week. ‘Troubadour is more about stories and heartfelt things than deliberately trying to sound clever; its only prerequisite was that it should sound “big”,’ he says.

‘I felt like my last album [2005’s The Dusty Foot Philosopher] was lyrically just as interesting as work by Kanye West but my record would sound so much smaller in a party atmosphere. I didn’t want this album to be sonically weaker than anything else out there.’

Besides its upbeat energy, Troubadour’s songs assuredly blend K’naan’s far-reaching styles and subjects (the hard-hitting perspectives of Somalia and America; the nostalgic romance of Fatima). ‘Part of that ease comes from recording Troubadour in one environment, in Bob Marley ’s home studio in Jamaica; it’s got all this history and the people of his world are still there,’ beams K’naan.

The opening number, a pan-African anthem entitled TIA (This Is Africa), also imaginatively samples Marley’s 1963 anti-gang violence track with The Wailers, Simmer Down. ‘Most people think of Bob Marley as this “flower power” figure, but he was really a tough guy; he wasn’t preachy, he put important messages across in a beautiful way. I was creating TIA’s drum track and thought: “Wow, this sounds like an internal uprising”.’

K’naan has never seemed cowed by controversy, whether criticising UN policies or offering alternative viewpoints on Somali piracy. He cheerfully admits: ‘I like being severely honest.’ At the same time, he’s always been a gregarious artist, with early support from the likes of Youssou N’Dour and Damon Albarn, and increasingly broad collaborators; he recently guested with British pop rockers Keane, while Troubadour features Bob’s son Damian Marley, rap heavyweights Mos Def and Chali 2Na, pop schmoozers Maroon 5’s frontman Adam Levine and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett.

‘A lot of these collaborations stemmed from friendships but the key thing was being really respectful of everybody’s work,’ says K’naaan. ‘Am I a Maroon 5 fan? Heh heh, that’s a good question. I do think Adam is an incredible vocalist.’

K’naan, whose name derives from the Somali word for ‘traveller’, really does keep on moving.

He recently returned to Somalia for the first time since emigrating with his family in his early teens (‘Unfortunately, we couldn’t get to Mogadishu, which is where most of my family are, but I spent time in the north, which is relatively peaceful. I needed to see Somalia like I see the world today; then I could make another album’). He also notes the significance of giving immigrant voices a mainstream star platform.

‘Fans who’d heard my records in the past would always say: “It’s a shame if more people don’t get to hear this”, so I’m glad that things are happening,’ he smiles. ‘Like Bob Dylan once said: “The times, they are a-changin.” Now people need their own heroes and their own voices represented, and I hope that’s happening through music. The world is in need of its own reflection.’